Probably a dumb question. Are u serious about not showing pictures of a deer you kill?

thinking you can control your scent. deer have more powerful noses than dogs and drug dogs can smell drugs hidden in gas tanks of cars. Scent eliminators are the biggest scam in the world. Hunt with the wind, not with scentkillers.

Go to the general forum section. Click on the "cow mistaken for a deer" thread. Get comfortable........

got comfortable, then uncorfortable, and then i got it!

Not having enough patience.

Pulling the trigger isn't necesarily hunting. But, all the things you need to do to have a chance to kill a deer IS. Woodsmanship, wind direction, scent prevention, being quiet on stand and patience. I think the biggest mistake is not being mentally ready to become a part of the forest when you go in to hunt.

biggest new hunters mistake and learned from experience dont overthink it!!! Just go out there and hunt dont make yourself obvious, be quiet and just hunt! I used to think i had to switch boots everytime i hunted but my grandfathers chicken houses is close to where I hunt and now I just dont care and the deer dont either! My jacket and boots and all smell rank of chicken litter but they dont care there used to it! So its the best cover scent of all! haha

Not being ready and I mean READY to act decisively when a deer presents itself. That was mine at least. Have your gun ready in hand, think through shooting lanes when you enter the stand, slowly go through what angle you can sweep without changing hands. Mentally be ready to react and make a very quick decision to act.

This is kindof what I was going to say. I'll add to it, don't take anything for granted or assume anything while hunting. Be ready and thorough.

I almost didn't hunt a deer because at quick glance that morning, I thought he was just a really big 6pt. I decided to hunt him that afternoon anyway and he ended up being my biggest buck to date (and an 8pt). Another instance, I saw a buck and looked through the scope as he passed, only to conclude he was a basket racked 6 pt. 15 mins later a buck returns from the same area that buck disappeared. I assumed it was the same buck until he looked my way. By that time I only had a small opening for a somewhat rushed shot. I never found that buck and he was an absolute dandy. Without a doubt in the 120-130" range. I have to think I could have made a better shot if I had been better prepared/unassuming.

My second thought is to have a quality pair of binos and learn to hunt the wind. Take every single scent elimination precaution you can, even if the wind is right.

That was my mistake Saturday. Spotted a small doe 50 yards straight down the slope from me. She was moving left to right and quartering away from me, so the shot was getting progressively more difficult with each step she took even though she was slowly working her way uphill. I contemplated shooting, but thought she was just too small. Looking back though, I realize, that if it had been a big buck, I wasn't prepared mentally to be decisive in taking a shot. Hopefully I learned my lesson and will get another chance.

Getting his wife to ask aldeer to take him hunting somewhere.

http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1189534#Post1189534

God Bless,
David B.

That's a big one!

Most of my mature bucks are shot within 5 seconds of seeing them. I leave no room for them to escape. I here people tell me that they saw an 8ptr that morning but couldn't get a shot off. If you see a deer good enough to know that he is an 8 ptr, then he should be dead if he met your harvest criteria. If you wait until he's in the wide open and completely broadside, you ain't killing many mature bucks. You have to learn to shoot thru small openings with only being able to see parts of the deer.

Blumsden...I have always agreed with what you have to say and have grown some nice clover plots thanks to your advice. However I made a major mistake last week. I had a 15" 4 point with no brow tines come through and 5 min. later I had a nice wide 6 with no brow tines bust through with no shot (in thick hard woods). 5 min. later I see the big 6 at 85 yds and only have small window with only seeing part of the deer and part of the rack. I made a clean kill. When I went to see that nice wide 6 it turned out to be the 4. Made me sick, looking back I should have not made that shot without seeing the full rack.

Don't misunderstand what i'm saying. Make sure its the buck your after, after that, get him on the ground as soon as you can. Your not always going to have an easy shot. I have to ask, please don't take offense. How could you see the rack of the 6 pt well enough to see that he had no brow tines, but couldn't get a shot?

I agree with blumsden. You MUST take the very first clean shot opportunity you have on a mature buck. If you wait on the prefect angle, clear shot, get closer, etc you will wind up going home empty more than not. Big deer don't give you much time. Most of the ones I have killed have not walked out into a food plot or opening and given me time to look at them. I immediately go into "Make this happen no matter what else is going" mode when I see a deer I know I want to kill. It happens very fast. The few mature bucks I have hesitated on to give me something better are still walking around, or on someone else's wall.

X 100000000

Damn straight. On a mature deer, you gotta ventilate him ASAP, the very first chance you get. Hesitation is your absolute worst enemy. I for one know that I screwed up on several waiting to get a better shot...there ain't no better shot than a clean look at a mature deer's vitals. And clean doesn't necessarily mean standing still, either. Or broadside.

This may have already been mentioned, but I think the biggest mistake that new hunters make is hunting a spot instead of hunting sign.

Just because a spot may look good or even pretty doesn't mean deer are using the spot. New hunters need to learn how to look for and read deer sign, learn how deer physically use land and terrain, learn what deer eat and don't eat, and how and where they bed, travel and eat and how they use land and terrain to do so.

Shooting to quick can get you in trouble if you hunt a place with very strict buck harvest criteria. I usually error on the side of caution and I have personally missed the opportunity to harvest two bucks in the last two years. It is tough sometimes when you only have a few seconds to make make up your mind to shoot or not and then after he is gone you realize you should have took the shot. But have never killed one and then realized I should have let him go.
I do agree after you have made up your mind to shoot you should take the first available shot and not wait for a perfect shot that may never come.

Agree. I failed to get a 140 inch 8 point a few years ago
waiting on a clean chest shot. Never got it. Then that night I woke up out of my sleep realizing I had a clear neck shot and failed to take it. I had been so intent on having a clear chest shot that I totally failed to consider the open neck shot.